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Additive fibre composite structures: New possibilities through robot-assisted 3D fiber winding

With a newly developed manufacturing process, the ZHAW School of Engineering shows how topology-optimised fibre composite components can be produced efficiently and with high precision.

ZHAW - School of Engineering
Winterthur, Switzerland

The so-called “3D fibre winding” allows the automated deposition of reinforcing fibres along ideal load paths – even for complex 3D components.

At the heart of the process is a cobot that deposits continuous rovings along guiding channels on an additively manufactured winding tool. This creates truss-like structures that are characterized by extreme lightweight performance. Compared to a milled aluminum component, the weight of an aircraft component could be more than halved while increasing the specific stiffness by 160 %.

Thanks to the high degree of automation, material waste is minimal, and reproducibility is high – a promising approach for lightweight components in aerospace and mechanical engineering. The method closes an important gap between traditional 2D laminates and complex, often inflexible 3D fibre laying technologies.

Your contact person

Dr.-Ing. Oliver Döbrich

Dr.-Ing. Oliver Döbrich

Leiter Faserverbundlabor IMPE

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